


Humanity's Strongest Soldier

by In_Hind_Sight



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Age Difference, Age Swap, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Cadet Levi, Canon Compliant, Captain Eren Yeager - Freeform, Commander Armin Arlert, Did I ever mention I despise tags?, M/M, Minor Armin Arlert/Jean Kirstein, Older Eren Yeager, Role Reversal, Titan Shifter Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Younger Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), rivaere - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-14 11:55:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13007250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_Hind_Sight/pseuds/In_Hind_Sight
Summary: In which the question that's asked and answered is, what if Levi and Eren switched places (roles, ranks, ages, etc.)?Could we have a better outcome?The War against the titans is fierce, but this time around the insignia of freedom has not been completed.Lance Corporal Eren Yeager is well known as Humanity's Last Hope, due to the fact that he posseses no titan [shifting] powers but in a rage can cause them to cluster attack on a single one, a power granted to him by his father through an injection when he was at a young age. The Survey Corps regiment is still set on finding the basement.But everyone knows- Eren especially- that Hope is nothing without strength, reason being Humanity's Strongest Soldier has still not been found [Why it's not Mikasa will be explained].Then, the Survey Corps are notified of a cadet who has the miraculous ability to shift himself into a titan; little do they know, this cadet is a rebellious brat who crosses way too many borders, ones that lead straight into Humanity's Last Hope's Heart.





	1. Primal Desire

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> I own absolutely nothing (They own me, not sexually shut up) Everything belongs to Kodansha and/or Hajime Isayama, I don't even own the story (mostly) as some of these lines are direct copies.

The young boy abruptly jolted up from the bed he lay on, confused as to how he'd got there in the first place and why he heard the distinct sound of metal rattling a violent echo in his ears.

You can imagine how much more perplexed he would have been when he'd discovered those sounds had been a result of his own movements. Now noticing the shackles that were securely attached to his wrists, grounding him to the bed. Although he felt wrong to call it that as it was incredibly uncomfortable, would be very unfortunate to have to sleep in it as he had, almost as if....

It was at that moment he chose to take in his surroundings...

He deciphered the metal cuffs dangling above him through his still hazy vision, the dim torchlight, weathered brick walls that were boxing everything in, along with obvious rusted -but no doubt- strong steel bars built infront of him, creating a barricade. He also remarked how there was not a window in sight, nothing but artificial light filtered throughout the room.

He also discovered he wasn't alone.

There were two people standing infront of his cell, well-known people at that. Quietly speaking  with hushed voices but silencing it as soon as they'd noticed the teen's awakening.

Harsh gunmetal eyes first landed on the blonde one, a little small and lanky looking for his occupation but Levi knew from others that what he lacked in bulk he ultimately made up for in his intense ability to find a solution for any situation and lead with great direction.

The man he recognized was Armin Arlert, the skilled Commander of the Survey Corps.

But his memory when it came to the man beside him was muddled. He knows he's not oblivious to who it is but whatever happened when he had been asleep must've caused his thoughts to become a  jumbled mess as he lays his eyes on the man standing next to the Commander.

The young boy's eyes were immediately taken by a slim build, messy brown hair and astonishingly huge green eyes. Eyes whose intense hue made the darker-haired boy feel almost as if he was falling, drowning in it's colour merely just from making contact with them.

His faded memory decides while he's lost in the midst of these eyes. to make itself clear. He does know who that is.

The beholder of those mesmerizing irises is Corporal Eren Yeager, not only a skilled soldier in hand-to-hand combat but also the man largely known as Humanity's Last Hope!

_Hold on a fucking second_ , he thinks while replaying the scenario over in his head, _Commander Armin, the head of the Scout Regiment's task force and Captain Eren_ the boy's thoughts finally materialize in his confusion and his voice decides to work when he finally uses it.

"Where the hell am I?" The teenager asked not missing the look the men infront of him shot towards eachother at his less than polite way of phrasing his question. But the youth couldn't care less, his respect having not caught up with the rest of him yet.

The Commander is who answered the question, "Let's just say you're in a dungeon," the blonde began, "Right now you're currently in the custody of the Military police" the man told.

_What?_ The teenager thought, bewildered beyond anything  _What the shit happened while I was asleep?_

He didn't get much time to dwell on it however as the Commander had swiftly resumed in giving his explanation-

"Only now were we permitted to see you," Commander Armin spoke fluidly, before making a hand gesture to Captain Eren beside him who seemed to identify the signal and placed something into the Commander's open palm. Once he had a grasp of the object he showed it to the dark-haired teenager who recognized it almost immediately.

That's... _but it can't be_ , "Isn't that the key..." he lead off.

The blonde man seemed happy at the boy's abrupt awareness of the item he's holding, "Ah good you know about this key and the mission to retake wall Maria, i'm assuming?" he asks, looking strangely hopeful.

The boy only very vaguely knew of it. In Truth, he had no idea what the entire story surrounding that key was, he saw it more as a symbol than what 'vital' role it played in the mission, "Not really" he answers bluntly.

Commander Armin sighed, "Okay, well I'll start with this key," he held up said item so the teen could clearly see it in all of it's golden brass and leather string glory, "This is Eren's," he gestured towards the young man beside him once again, "I'll be returning it later. Anyways, his father, Dr. Yeager, owns a basement located in the the Shiganshina district behind Wall Maria where it holds the secret surrounding the titans, right?" He turns to his friend beside him for proof, who nods in return "That's what my father said"

Commander Armin looks to the boy, "Does that make sense?"

It did, but- "That doesn't explain what you're doing here" the dark-haired teenager snapped back, annoyed at the fact that they wouldn't just tell him directly instead of making him play this pointless guessing game, if they weren't going to tell him anything then what was the point of them even telling him all this?

Nontheless, Commander Armin raised his brows in surprise at him but answered his question anyways seeing reason behind rebellious gunmetal eyes, clearing his throat "Yes, well in order to accomplish this mission we would need to reseal the gate for Wall Maria. We've tried different methods and all have failed, until we discovered your strength and titan ability." He took a deep breath,

"In a more blunt term, you might just be the fulfilling factor we've been missing all this time"

The boy has no time to respond as the blonde prevents him from saying anything by beginning to speak again, "The Colossal titan and the Armored titan most likely work the same way as you. Your intentions are key. The key to save humankind from despair."

Suddenly, the young boy's thoughts are invaded by something, something he hadn't even thought about until now and he curses himself for it.  _Farlan and Isabel_ , were they okay? The last time he recalled seeing them was in that blurred moment when Farlan dragged him out of his titan, Isabel by his side and them being saved by one of the Survey Corps strongest soldiers, Mikasa Ackerman.

Then he's reminded of everyone in the 104th, how many of them had managed to make it through the attack?

Abruptly, the sound of someone else speaking interrupts him. Although this is not the calm and collected voice of the Commander's but this one is far different, it's deeper than the blonde's but definitely not baritone as it makes the youth recall it's sound being similar to the way honey tastes. Whatever the hell that means.

"What are you're intentions? Is what he's asking, unless you yourself don't know?" The saccharine voice belongs to Corporal Eren, this being the first proper sentence the dark-haired boy's heard the older man say this entire time.

However, his voice may be one of the sweetest things he's ever heard but he doesn't let _anyone_   sass him like Captain Eren did just moments ago, he immediately rises up on his bed, chains rattling excessively not missing the guards that were positioned around his cell visibly flinching at the loud noise, but ignored it anyways.

"I _know_ my intentions, but before I tell you mine how 'bout you tell me yours?" he challenged, showing no fear as he glared (although it being mildly difficult) at those gorgeous  intense green orbs.

This time it was Captain Eren's turn to raise his eyebrows at the aggressive teen. Even so, the man of higher position shot him a 'fair enough' look, before looking at floor momentarily as if deciding his answer. Commander Armin looked almost as if he were rolling his eyes but it was dark so the youth couldn't tell for sure.

Then, Captain Eren's looks up, incredibly green eyes ablaze. He stares straight back at the youth, an almost manic smile plastered on his face "My intentions... are wanting to slaughter every titan I can. I'm going to drive every last one of them from this world!" he said with great enthusiasm.

The younger boy felt his face grow hot, if he'd thought the Captain's eyes were flawless before, now they were absolutely breath-taking, the sea-green irises had suddenly heightened in it's already impressive shade, becoming so radiant and sparkling as if they contained bursts of bottled lightning inside of them and the boy swore they gleam a shining gold every time the torchlight flickered off of them.

In this moment Levi Ackerman found himself seeing Captain Eren Yeager as blissfully pretty, the passion he'd put while he'd spoken his intententions showing the dark-haired teen a monstrous glow that Levi familiarized with.

He knew then, before the Captain said anything more that he for sure was as dangerous as he was beautiful, Levi took note of this.

Levi suddenly couldn't get his sentences out as clearly as he had wanted to before, still distracted by the ocean the man wore in his eyes, green gray-blue, ever shifting.

The boy's thoughts have rapidly dissipated and all that appears in Levi's swirly mind, all that he can think in that moment is-

Not bad.

Finally, his voice works, although it's quite rough.

"Those- those are my intentions as well..." he somehow managed to get out breathlessly.

Then Corporal Eren is walking towards his cell, stopping and reaching a perfectly sun-kissed hand to grip one of the rusted steel bars before flashing Levi a smile that causes the younger boy's palms to turn damp almost immediately. He can't say anything once again, all he's focused on his the man standing mere feet away from him.

"Alright Armin, I'll take care of him. Let the higher-ups know. I don't entirely trust him so if he betrays us or  goes out of control, we'll find a way with Mikasa to either control him or put him down, the top brass won't have anything to say about that" The superior's eyes don't leave Levi's eyes once as he speaks the next sentence.

"You were right Armin I could be the only one cut out for this" His eyes shine, "Levi Ackerman, I accept your admission to the Survey Corps"


	2. Can't Look Into His Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> I own absolutely nothing (They own me, not sexually shut up) Everything belongs to Kodansha and/or Hajime Isayama, I don't even own the story (mostly) as some of these lines are direct copies.

Green emerald eyes blew wide as the young girl took in this new information she'd obtained from the boy sitting across from her, "Levi's being put on trial!? For what?!" Isabel said not so quietly, the dirty blond quickly shushed her- trying to ignore the annoyed looks they received from Isabel's abrupt outburst- before he went on to further explain.

"I don't know the details, but I think it's about deciding how to deal with Levi"

"What's that supposed to mean?" The red-head asked quizzically and a bit too loudly.

Farlan shot her a look as she once again raised her voice to a non-preferable volume. But he doesn't comment on it, instead continuing to voice his thoughts "They're probably deciding whether he lives or dies"

Isabel's immense eyes are suddenly filled with absolute horror at Farlan's prospect, "Big bro-" she began, but was unexpectedly cut off by a loud booming voice that echoed off the big stone walls that made up the lunch hall.

"Isabel Magnolia! Farlan Church! Are you here?"

"That's our call" Farlan remarked, getting up to reveal his face and answer his attendance to the one who'd called them, followed by a still puzzled Isabel who didn't have much of a choice or say to follow. They could hear the other cadets surrounding whispers while they stepped up.

"Yes Sir" Farlan replied.

The superior gave them a stern statue-like expression, in a voice resembling stone "You have been ordered to appear at the trial this afternoon as witnesses!"

The pair shoot eachother a look, evidently not needing to ask anymore questions.

_

 _Fuck it smells like shit in here_ Levi thought, now realizing -and truly disgusted-  by the absolutely rancid state of the cell he has currently been secluded in for far more than he wanted. The piss-poor pigs labelled as his guards stationed outside not doing anything to help in uplifting his deteriorating mood.

Not even trying to be polite about it and maybe a teensy bit bored, Levi pegged a guard "Oi, I need'a take a shit"

"You just went earlier" The guard shoots back.

The teen rolled his eyes _earlier as in when, five hours ago?_

"How 'bout some water?" He tried, feeling himself slowly becoming claustrophobic of the dimly lit cell and it's incredibly musty walls. He just wanted to fucking _move_.

"Hey! Understand the situation you're in. Damn monster" The guard, victim of his pestering swung his weapon against the bars, causing it the rusty metal to rattle and echo, most likely in attempts to get the bold boy to back down, which of course didn't work. But something else the mucky-muck guard said did catch his attention.

 _Monster? They're definitely not wrong about that_   Levi thinks, but he can't find himself to be bothered at such a familiar label. Regardless of whether he or anyone else had been aware of him possessing this power, he'd been identified as a monster. Due to his ruthless, reckless ways of living in the underground before he'd been drafted into the cadets.

But now looking at the set of guards, heavy duty chains and steel bars keeping him closed in, he wondered if this was a bit much _Am I so scary they've gotta restrain me this much?_ He asks in his head, although based off of what he'd stated earlier he's really not too surprised.

He's just happy (and a tiny bit amazed) they haven't decided to execute him yet.

 _Wait a minute_ , he suddenly feels his hazy memory resurfacing as he recalls Farlan and Isabel's reaction- _those_ _two weren't scared of me at all, what are they doing now? What happened to everybody else?_ Levi thinks, he hasn't seen anyone but Farlan and Isabel after Trost and even then he'd only caught a glimpse of them before slipping into unconsciousness. He didn't even know if there was anyone else who had managed to have made it through the attack.

He briefly remembers something the Commander had advised him before he and the Captain had left-

_"Be patient for a little while longer, please. We'll try as hard as we can to sort things out"_

How many days had passed since then? What's going on outside? Levi sincerely hoped that this wouldn't be how his entire life remained like from now. Treated and feared as some kind of beast- although, it wouldn't be _too_   different from how he'd been previously. Only thing to set this life apart from the one he lead before was this time he was above ground and he had chains and cages to hold him back.

The teen's thoughts are ripped from his application when he catches hearing of the distant sound of footsteps making they're way down the staircase. As the sounds get closer afew people swiftly appear in his line of vision but Levi doesn't get the chance to make out their faces because it's the man in front who steals his attention first.

A young man at that, probably around the same age as the Captain, Levi would assume although he doesn't have the slightest idea to what Corporal Eren's real age would happen to be.

The man walks up to Levi's cell, which causes the teen to instantly catch notice of sandy-brown hair with brown-eyes to match, looking back at him.

He gives the boy a smile, "So you're Levi, huh? How are you, probably dirty I suppose," Levi inwardly cringes at that. Just the thought of him being surrounded by this filth and covered in grime from it is enough to make him more than a little uneasy.

"Sorry for making you wait so long" The man who has failed to introduce himself apologizes. But Levi doesn't really find it in himself to hate the guy as the man talks in a calm and respectable voice that he's grateful for.

In other words he's just glad the nameless man is not as over-excited as a certain shitty-glasses he knows would be fucking esctatic at the idea of a titan-shifter.

"You can finally leave this place" The man says and suddenly Levi likes him a million times more.

"Though you'll have to wear these" He speaks next, thrusting a pair of chain cuffs between the gap in the bars of his 'prison' and Levi feels some of that earlier praise he had earlier fade away. But not too much, because the proposition of being able to leave this filthy cell has his spirits up enough for him to be bypass getting upset about the idea of still having to be restrained.

And surely enough, moments later they're walking through an incredibly bright hallway, due to the (morning or afternoon, he has no fucking clue) daylight shining through the glass roof. The hallway does not give away any telltale signs of exactly what type of building he's been kept in, which he's truly begun to grow curious about now.

The man (who he still has yet to put a name too), has been quiet for a couple minutes, as well as the small group of people who had been trailing behind them, all keeping to themselves.

But the mystery man's begun talking now, finally, at long last, introducing himself.

"I'm from the Recon Corps," he says first before elaborating further, "Major Moblit Berner", then afterwards choosing to point towards the man whose walking the closest next to Levi, "He's fellow Major Jean Kirschstein"

The teenager turns his head around to get a proper look at the man Major Moblit is referring to and it's really not entirely his fault he finds himself staring a bit too long, it's just this Major Jean's face looks oddly... equine.

As if somehow being able to read his mildly offensive thoughts said superior shoots an incredibly irritated glare at him and Levi can hear Major Moblit chuckling at the interaction, "He gets that a lot, Captain Eren often likes to call him Horseface, always has. I wouldn't read to much into it though"

Major Jean groans, looking fairly annoyed and vaguely embarassed, "Moblit! Don't tell him that, you know the Cadets won't take me seriously enough when you say things like that so nonchalantly!"

Moblit laughs again, completely seeming unapologetic for his teasing "Oh calm down Jean, you know that's not true. You're skilled enough to become a Major after all and be as high up as you are"

Major Jean makes an exasperated noise that sounds incredibly similar to a horse puffing out air.

They arrive at two huge doors. Seeming to catch the superior who's been leading this entourage a bit off guard, "Oh, would you look at that- we've chatted all the time away. We're already here" he says, opening the doors.

"Well I guess you're better off without an explanation anyways. We don't have any choice but to trust you blindly"  Major Moblit claims before smoothly pushing Levi into the unknown room.

"Good luck" he wishes him, before closing the big wooden doors.

It's then that Levi realizes where he is, while he looks around and sees all the distinctive areas and mass amount of people-

_A courtroom? I was being held under a fucking courthouse?_

And before he has anytime to gather up his thoughts he's suddenly hit in the back what feels to be the barrel of a rifle, followed by rough words.

"Move Along!"

___

Levi winced a bit in slight pain as Major Moblit gently touched the cotton swab at his bruised cheek.

"It looks like he really kicked you hard, it must hurt a lot" the Major remarked as he continued to look at the blemishes and various other injuries on Levi's face that he'd obtained in the last hour.

"It's just a scrape" the teen dismisses, because even if it did hurt a bit he's surely had much, _much_   worse. Although getting a tooth knocked out of him was a new experience- not that he wanted to repeat it as he liked to avoid as much as possible when it came to getting his face bashed in.

The case had gone well, Levi supposed. His brain wasn't scattered across the floor of the courtroom so that was a big plus and he wouldn't be staying in that shitty cell underneath said courthouse anymore, that was definitely a good outcome he could take away from this.

Levi can't even recall exactly what happened in the courtroom, at one point everyone was arguing and then all of a sudden he lost it, becoming impulsive and deciding to yell something along the lines _'Shut up you damned filthy pigs! Let me take responsibility!'_ or some heat of the moment shit like that. Then, within his next blink and without warning, Corporal Eren's kicking his face to pieces and beating him up for all he's worth. Which he now discovers was apparently an act in order for the Scout Regiment to gain custody of him.

That they somehow now had because Captain Eren had managed to convince Darius Zacklay- the head of all the garrisons- that since he could kick and mangle Levi's face without him transforming, he could control him. Which he kinda could. Levi has no clue why but he has a feeling that if it were anyone else, shoving their dirty-as-shit boot in his face (that actually wasn't all that dirty) he would definitely not be what they commonly referred to as 'controlled'.

Right now though, in the present, the teen is currently leant against a wall (he's for sure not in the mood for sitting as that's all he's been doing for who knows how long), while Major Moblit fusses over him looking over the decent amount of his injuries. Swiftly, that changes and it's all of a sudden that it's Commander Armin who's standing in front of him instead of the Major.

"Sorry about doing that," The commander immediately apologizes and it's then that Levi realizes -now that they're both standing- is not significantly too much taller than he is.

"But as a result we got you for ourselves" The superior remarks with a grin.

Levi nods shortly, "Yes"

"We were able to play our trump cards, your pain was worth our gain"

The dark-haired boy doesn't quite know how he feels about that but he just says a quick 'Thanks' as he deems that's what is in order. Technically they did save his life. Surely if Farlan were here he'd be scolding him for his lack of politeness.

Commander Armin looks happy about that though, proceeding to stick out a hand towards him "I look forward to working with you, Levi"

Levi thinks it's probably not the best idea to snub a handshake from the man who could potentially order a firing squad on him with the snap of his finger -no matter how uncertain Levi is that the Commander's hand is clean- so he returns the handshake.

"So do I" Levi says in return noticing he probably should've added a 'Sir' at the end of the sentence but he can't find himself to care about that when he takes in the sight of what- or who's behind the Commander.

Over the Commander's shoulder Levi can see Captain Eren sitting at the couch looking a bit upset and Major Moblit in front of him, kneeled down and talking to him.

Levi's not so sure why he did what he did, but he felt strangely obligated too.

He also thinks it's probably a step over a few boundaries but he isn't one for following orders anyways. He pushes himself off the wall, beginning to walk over to the couch and sitting himself next to the Captain, leaning back, crossing his legs and throwing a careless arm over the couch- although he quickly retracts it back, figuring that that's crossing more lines necessary even for him.

He begins talking, "Say, Captain-"

But his new Superior quickly cuts him off, all of a sudden straightening himself professionally, looking to his newly acquired Subordinate next to him, "Do you hate me?"

And then Corporal Eren is looking at him with those strangely pretty eyes with the colour that Levi finds himself readily becoming quite attached too- the eyes, not the Corporal. But upon seeing those incredibly green orbs, he finds himself unable too look into them without being able to feel his heart beat considerably from where it's located in his chest. He has too look away when he answers.

"No... I understand it was necessary"

His Captain breathes a sigh of relief, relaxing tense shoulders "That makes me glad to hear"

At that moment Major Moblit interrupts the short quiet, "You could've at least held back a _little_ , you even broke his tooth, look" The Major says, holding up the palm of his hand so that both he and Captain Eren can see the tooth Levi thought he'd never see again after he'd literally felt it knocked out of his head and briefly witness it skitter across the floor.

Not that he'd even _wanted_  to see it again. Levi cringes in disgust, even though it is _his_  tooth its still a tooth nonetheless, a tooth that's been on that dirty  _floor_   even, most likely shrouded by germs now. Nontheless it's filthy and he doesn't want to be anywhere near it. He resists the urge to leave the couch.

"Ew, Moblit" His superior says from beside him, his expression disgusted but he still has a smile on his face, "Don't pick that up it's gross"

Moblit frowns a bit, acting like he's a bit offended, "It's an important sample for me"

Levi's not sure what it is, but he feels something twinge in him at seeing the oddly playful exchange but he doesn't have time to dwell on it because Corporal Eren is saying something to him again in that honey-laced voice.  

"Levi, I bet you're glad you won't be dissected by freaks, huh?" The brunet nods toward the Major still knelt in front of him, who makes a hurt face.

"Don't say that while looking at me, I'm nowhere near in the same league as them. I wouldn't kill Levi" The sandy-haired man defends. He then quickly brushes off the topic and turns himself towards Levi.

"Hey, may I see the inside of your mouth?" Moblit asks and once again Levi wants to deny the request but he knows he doesn't have much of a choice so he obliges, letting his jaw go slack and opening his mouth for the Major to look into. Which he does and makes a startled face.

"His tooth...already grew back"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I ever quite mentioned how I felt about removing the court/beat-up scene. Mostly because I've seen it so many times I can't be bothered with it. Ugh, I'm already done posting the pre-submitted chapters, and the next post-typed is unedited. This could either mean two things, I'm going on another hiatus or I'm actually gonna start writing again.
> 
> Hint; The latter is more likely.


	3. Special Operations Squad

Following the interesting (and frankly), shocking information of Levi's quickly regaining tooth- they'd all had to check for themselves to see if it really was true; could the Titan shifter really regenerate at such a rapid rate?

Nonetheless, eventually everything sorted out.

Commander Armin -being the busy man he is- had taken his leave, seeing that the circumstances (so far) were kept in control. He had taken Major Jean with him andMr. Moblit hadn't found too much reason to stay long after that so he also left.

It was only the two of them in the room now. Just Levi and the Captain.

Sitting in silence it was just in-between comfortable and awkward. Levi liked it that way anyways, he was never much of a talkative person to begin with and when he did, he always wanted to get straight to the point. He preferred the quiet, this way he could finally be alone to attend his own thoughts in what seemed like an eternity since he last had.

Levi really was worried about Farlan and Isabel. He could feel that pleading voice it back of his head wanting toknow if they're okay, he needs to hear the nagging voice of Farlan, reminding him to stay out of trouble, needed to listen to the excited call of 'Levi bro!' from Isabel, he desperately wishes to witness both of their faces and for them to be as alive and well as he'd last seen them.

Before he can dwell in his regret of not being there with them any longer, the peacefulness of the muted atmosphere quickly fades as his superior besides him shuffles and awkwardly clears his throat in a way to catch the younger's attention- which it does.

The head of chestnut-brown hair, (that Levi finds looking oddly fluffy in his eyes)turns to him,

"So- Are you ready to meet your new Squad?"

_

Levi did meet Captain Eren's Squad, learned all their names, memorized their faces and so on and so forth. But how he felt about them altogether was something he was still trying to figure out.

Firstly, there was Hannah Diamant and Franz Kefka, a girl with freckles speckled across pale cheeks and this big burly guy whose frame held broad shoulders. Levi hadn't really learned anything else about them though aside from that.  This wasn't his fault seeing as they seemed to immersed and dead-set on eachother, even now as they rode their horses behind Levi's he could hear them whispering into one another's ears and giggling afterwards. Levi doesn't really have anything against couple's (although he's never been part of one himself) but there's a time and a place to be affectionate he likes to think.

Then there was Thomas Wagner, a blond man with thick sideburns who the teen supposed was nice enough and hadn't found a significant reason to begin holding a grudge towards (-yet).

"While it definitely looks impressive, it's so far from the Walls and all rivers that it's completely useless to the Recon Corps," A feminine voice explains.

Lastly there's Mina Carolina. so far, the little woman being the first to start getting on Levi's nerves. Which isn't even that hard of a thing to do- Levi's just surprised it took this long.

Ms. Mina isn't so bad at first glance, her raven-hair is tied neatly enough into dual pigtails that reminds Levi of Isabel, she's a bit on the shorter side (although Levi can't really complain about that considering his own height). But the thing about Mina is she talks so much. They've been traveling to the new headquarters, nearing the third hour now and all the woman has been doing beside him is non-stop jabbering. Not to mention when she's not talking she's either got this dumb smile on her face or insistently glaring.

Levi honestly thinks it looks like she's trying to impersonate someone or has some kind of split-personality war thing going on.

"The story goes back to the ambitious early days when the Corps was formed. Who would've thought we'd end up using it again to serve as your hideout? Don't get cocky, newbie." She gives a bit of a freakish giggle and Levi wonders if she ever takes breaths between each sentence with how quickly she's jabbering. If it were anyone of a lower rank talking right now Levi probably would've knocked them out just about now.

 "What? I don't know the deal with this crap about you being a Titan, but we're not going to have Captain Eren babysit-"

He never got to hear the rest of that sentence (not that he wanted to, he was already up to here). Due to her lack of attention to the path infront of her she had managed to run her poor horse straight into jutted tree.

Levi really prayed it wouldn't be too long before they reached headquarters.

_

"This is what you get for talking and riding your horse at the same time."

"The first moments are what leave the most impression, the newbie was amazed by me."

"I think he was just annoyed by how much talking you do."

After Ms. Mina had stupidly ran her and her horse into that tree-thankfully- they hadn't been far from their destination and the hurt member was able to get an icepack from Thomas for her throbbing head, that she'd hit on one of the trees branches.

Trying to drown out the sound of them arguing, the young boy just tried to entertain himself with tending to his horse and think without Mina's voice constantly pestering him with breaking the silence.

So these are the people hand-picked by Captain Eren, huh? Levi thought, apparently -or so the teen had heard- they were the top tier of the Recon Corps although Levi wouldn't know because all he'd seen so far is the couple too absorbed in each other to notice anyone else around, some chick with weird impersonation issues and a man whose sideburns could rival Erwin's eyebrows in a dead heat.

At least he couldn't say he missed the rest of the 104th cadets as much anymore, he was used to being surrounded by a load of idiot weirdos, after all.

But he does miss when he was not utterly surrounded by weeds and overgrowth. The courtyard they'd arrived in was absolutely overridden by unwanted intrusions. Which made sense since, according to Ms. Mina, this castle was left abandoned a many years prior.

Still, he could only imagine and grimace on how terrible the inside was if the outside was already this bad. Just the mere thought about all that dust and cobwebs built up from years of neglect, not to mention in all  crevices imaginable, didn't hesitate in making him shudder.

He heard Ms.Hannah say something similar about the weeds to Franz, something like how it's covered in weeds and how terrible it looks, her lover telling her something of how disused the place's been over the years.

Everyone raises at attention when Captain Eren finally appears in the courtyard and Levi's respect for his superior suddenly skyrockets at the next words he says-

"That is indeed a severe problem, we shall fix it immediately!"  The superior spouts excitedly, his attitude not reflecting off of the other members of the squad. But Levi doesn't give a single shit about what they think towards the topic because he's begun to have a battle inside his head of whether or not the person who'd literally kicked his face in that same day is a real angel or better.

_

Over the past few days- maybe even weeks, Levi hasn't received an opportunity to feel truly gratified. Which is understandable, considering the attack in Trost which led to him being separated from the only friends he could truly call family. Not to mention that now he has the ability to turn into a fucking titan.

But now, for the past few hours Levi's had nothing but that blissful peace and quiet that he'd desperately needed all this time. Sure he had been alone for however long in that cell and it's been plenty silent, but it also smelled like rancid shit and was disgusting to all hell, nevermind how hard it is to concentrate when there are armed men mere feet away from you that would knock you out of whatever reverie you could manage to put yourself into.

For days, his mind was had been in turmoil, full of constant overflowing worry for Farlan and Isabel. And as time had stretched on, even for the people like Hanji and Erwin, cadets from the 104th squad.

With this small break, the storm inside his head was able to be cleared (although small worry still remained, impossible to dissipate unless he saw them alive and well). He could admit  
-while on his way to tell Corporal Eren about his completed work- that he truly felt content.

Retracing his way back to where he supposed Lance Corporal Eren must still be, he located doorway and entered the clean room, greeted with the sight of his superior moderately wiping down the side of a window.

"I've finished with cleaning the upper floors" Levi said, his voice giving a slight barely-there echo in the fairly empty room but nonetheless, catching the superior's attention.

The head of dark-brown hair turns to Levi at hearing his subordinate's voice, but before he could make any comment towards the teen, Levi asked a question that he'd just been reminded of-

"Where will I get to sleep in this building...Sir?" The boy quickly added the honorific, momentarily forgetting that it was a requirement for him that he wasn't used too.

His Superior's neutral expression doesn't change as he'd turned back to look at him green eyes not showing anything, "You'll be sleeping in the basement from the looks of it" He responds.

Levi felt irritation suddenly bubbly up on him, I just got out of that basement in the courthouse and now he wants me to go back? Is he shitting me?  

"Again?" he answers, probably in the wrong tone you're supposed to be using towards your superior. But in that moment, he didn't find it in himself to really give a shit.

Captain Eren's face is still dead set- not even acknowledging the rude tone, his face calm neither upset or happy.

"Of course. You're not in complete control of yourself yet. If while you're sleeping, you suddenly turn, at least if you're underground we can restrain you right away, that was one of the conditions agreed upon us to gain custody of you after all. It's definitely a rule we need to follow."  The brunet finishes, setting down his cloth before his subordinate can say anything else and walking towards the doorway.

"I'll take a look around the rooms. You do this room, Levi" He orders before walking down the door. Levi just stares at the head of fluffy-looking brown hair as it gradually disappears from his sight round the same corner he had arrived from minutes ago.

"That's quite a look on your face, Levi." a voice suddenly said out of nowhere. The young boy quickly recognized the abruptly appearing face as Thomas', this didn't make him any less irritated, however.

"I don't." He gruffly answered back, because he certainly didn't.

His squad mate just gave him a seemingly friendly smile, "Ah, I'll be calling you Levi. Captain Eren does the same, he pretty much sets the tone for us."

Levi quite frankly didn't care who called him what as long as it wasn't something that would piss him off, but did he really have a despairing look on his face? His mind instantly going back to Thomas' first words to him at entering the room. He didn't think he did, why would he after all?

Having a bit too much pride, the teen refused himself to ask about it to the other man in the room, so he just hummed in response to whatever he'd said.

Thomas -for whatever reason- gave him a sympathetic look, probably noticing that Levi wasn't going to be asking any questions, choosing to explain himself "It's not surprising at all," Thomas sighs a bit "He doesn't really come across as the perfect, invulnerable person people think he is, does he? The true Eren is surprisingly skinny, a bit rambunctious, violent at times and extremely difficult to approach when in a bad mood-"

"That's not it," Levi partially cuts the blond man off, "I was just surprised how easy-going he is and how obediently he accepts the decisions of the higher-ups"

The slightly older man nods his head in understanding, "Do you think, at his rank and power, that he'd be totally sullen and unapproachable? That he wouldn't care about position and the chain of command?

Levi turns his head to the side, directly avoiding eye contact as he muttered a admitting "Yes".

In all honesty, he had. Captain Eren at first glance had been nothing what he'd expected at first meeting him, sure he'd known about him, but he'd never cared too much to ever see him. The Captain was not like the old, stubborn, rebellious and grumpy Corporal he'd envisioned. Instead, Corporal Eren was still (at least he looked) young, lively and prone to following the orders of the higher ups and as an added bonus he was also fairly pleasing to look at it. But that's not important.

"I don't know a whole lot of the details myself," Levi takes in the way Thomas's voice gets lower, "but I hear he was quite the rebel in his trainee days- a 'suicidal bastard' most would call him, a real hothead. Which I find real funny because I don't see the Captain get angry real often, unless he's with Major Jean- but that's not really too often now either."

To say this confused Levi was an understatement, there was absolutely no way that the calm easy-going Captain Eren he knew could possibly be like that, right? But then, why-

"I don't really exactly know what happened or how he got to the position he is today, but I do know that Him and the Commander have been friends even since they were cadets and I suppose that has something to do with it."

The Commander? His thoughts echo.

"Hey, Levi."

Even the young boy had to admit that the abrupt occurrence of his Superior's head popping into view in the doorframe startled him a little. Although it was the exact opposite for Thomas because he fucking jumped as if it was a bloody titan out to get him and began to diligently pretend as if he'd been sweeping the entire time.

The scene almost made Levi want to laugh, but instead he answered the Captain.

"Yes, Sir?"  He responded, mentally patting himself on the back for remembering the honorific this time.

"I need to speak with you about your cleaning, follow me." Corporal Eren ordered him.

My cleaning? What the fuck wrong could there possibly be wrong with his cleaning? Levi thought, because the last person who's ever said that to him was his Mother. In fact, it was usually him saying that, although the phrase was usually something like 'Redo it, all of it'.

Instead of stating these facts -like he usually would if the ranks were different but they weren't-  ,like a good subordinate, he obeyed and followed.

The trek they made up the stairs was quiet, Captain Eren not making any move to talk and it was pretty obvious that it sure as hell wasn't Levi who was going to spark a conversation, this leaving them to their own devices. However, it hadn't been for long because sooner than later they were already infront of the room Levi had been in charge of.

The first thing his Superior does is walking over to the pile of sheets that Levi had neatly folded before gesturing for him to follow, which he did.

"Help me fold these sheets again" He said, taking the one placed on the top and promptly shaking it out from it's already neatly done form.

And Levi couldn't help but put a little bit of sass in his tone when he asked, "What's the matter with'em?"

The Captain gave him a smile that Levi would recall being -darehesay- cocky when he responded with "They're folded the wrong way."

Levi's irritation is on the brink of escaping and he's about to say something when Captain Eren fans out the sheet and passes a side of it too him, preventing him from saying anything that would for sure fall in the category of disrespecting his superior and get him executed altogether.

"Folding them crosswise will make it so the fabric will last longer." He further elaborates almost as if he'd wanted to try and get a rise out of the youth.

But any harsh feelings he'd had towards his Corporal have dissipated when Levi suddenly realizes something, had he really been folding them wrong the entire time? He should be an expert of cleaning by now so how had he not known this one tiny detail? He tries to go back in his memories to calculate all the times he'd folded sheets wrong,  shortening the lifespan of a perfectly good resource.

"Aside from theses sheets, that stain underneath that dresser over there and those windows  I'll show you a trick for afterwards to get them sparkling- you did a pretty decent job, given you're still newbie"

He pauses in order to focus on folding the sheet they're doing, Levi fills the space with his own words, "I've always liked to keep everything I own clean, I don't like messes." he states.

Captain Eren gives him a smile, "Ah, that explains it. Can't say I'm any different though. " He says before walking towards him in order to complete a fold and Levi feels the back of his neck get hot, whether it's from his superior's oddly attractive smile or the closeness, he's not sure. He ignores it.

He figures that it's not bad if this is how it's going to be from how on with Captain Eren in charge of him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I finally worked on something! (given I only edited but still).
> 
> Happy New Year! Let's go 2018!

**Author's Note:**

> I think it's about time I started posting a multi-chap on here.


End file.
